As recently as last summer, Musk said he hoped to launch an uncrewed Starship mission to the Red Planet, calling the moon a "distraction". In recent weeks, Bezos' space company Blue Origin has also put more focus on its own moon program, shuttering its suborbital space tourism business to shift those resources into its Blue Moon lunar lander program ahead of a planned uncrewed mission to the surface this year. The agency has pressed the companies to speed up their lunar lander development to win the space race against China, which has targeted its own 2030 moon astronaut landing. The rocket's upper stage, which acts as the moon lander, faces a 2028 crewed moon landing date that many in the industry see as tough to meet. "There is a very palpable change in mindset from the investment community on the lunar surface over the last two years, and I think Elon's announcement has made that more pressing," he said.

Source: The Telegraph February 14, 2026 13:26 UTC